Sheet-feeding machine



May 13 1926. 1,584,734

C. E. CHRISTOPHEL SHEET FEEDING MACHINE Filed Nov. e, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 avweutoz @51 M Grimm-aw May 18,1926. 1,584,734 C. E. CHRISTOPHEL SHEET FEEDING MACHINE Filed N 6, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 18 192s. 1,584,734

' C. E. CHRISTOPHEL SHEET FEEDING MACHINE il 6, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 0? I 4* 52 Z525 Z Suva for,

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May 8,1Q26. 154,734

- c. E. CHRISTOPHEL v SHEET FEEDING MACHINE Fi e 6, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN V EN TOR W'A- W ATORNEYS Patented May 12,- 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,584,734 PATENT OFFICE.

OARL E. CHRISTOPHEL, OF PEARL RIVER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T DEXTER FOLDER COMPANY, OF PEARL RIVER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION NEW YORK.

snnn'r-rnnnme MACHINE.

Application filed November 6, 1922. Serial No. 599,359.

Theprese-nt invention relates to improvements in automatic sheet feeding machines of the type in which the successive sheets in an automatically elevated pile are separated and fedfrom the pile to a, printing. press, folding machine or other machine designed to operate upon the sheets. This invention relates more particularly to the sheet forwarding mechanism by which the sheets are 'moved from the pile to a suitable delivery mechanism. In moving the successive sheets from a pile it is important that the sheet moving instrument impart an abrupt upward movement followed by a 18 substantially horizontal movement to of fectively float 'the sheet upon a film of air which is blown under the partially separated top'sheet. The improved form of sheet forwarding feeding deyice is'a' simple and cfi'ec- 80 tive construction for imparting this desired movement in the delivery'of sheetsfrom a ile.

p The-improved sheet feeding device comprises a reciprocating carriage adapted to 95 be suitably mounted above a pile of sheets, a

sheet moving instrument movable up and down upon the carriage, and a power" driven member operatively associated with the carriage and the sheetmoving instrument to effect the raising and lowering of the sheet moving instrument upon the carriage'and the reciprocating forward and back movements of the carriage with respect to the pile of sheets. In the preferred arrangement of the improved mechanism, the power driven member comprises a lever pivoted upon the carriage and formed with a cam which engages a member connected with the sheet moving instrument, whereby the power driven lever will raise. and lower the sheet moving instrument in addition to performing its function as a link or pitman for reciprocating the carriage.

In order that the invention may be fully understood the preferred embodiment and a slightly modified form of the same will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and the novelty more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In said drawings Y Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic top plan view of a type of automatic sheet feeding machine to which the present invention may be applied.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the preferred embodimentof the improved sheet forwarding device, in which view only those parts of the feeding machine are. included to i1-- lustrate the novel features.

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the same showing the parts in a shifting position.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same in the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2.

Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are detail views of parts of the same.

Figs. 9 and 10 are respectively a plan view and a side elevation of a slightly modified form of the improved feeding device.

For the purpose of illustrating one practical application of the improved sheet feeding device, I have shown in Fig. 1 the essential elements of an improved automatic feeding machine in which 1 represents the top of a pile of sheets, 22 the preliminary separators operating upon the rear edge o the pile and 33 the sheet forwarding devices which operate just back ofthe forward edge of the pile. This diagrammatic illustration-is of the particular machine covered by an-application Serial No. 484,384, filed by me July 13th, 1921. The sheet forwarding devices 3-3 illustrate the location of theimproved sheet feedingdevices of the present invention, when said devices are employed as sheet forwarding members in the type of -machine referred to. It is not intended to limit the present invention to its use in this particular type of machine.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 2 to 8 of the drawings illustrating thepreferred embodiment of the invention, it will be observed that 10 is a transverse rodo'r bar forming one of the rigid frame parts of a sheet feeding machine. 12 is a transversely extending rock shaft suitably journaled in the machine frame and carrying at one end a spur gear 13, which .is in constant mesh with a segment gear 14 suitably journaled upon the machine frame at a pointnot shown and carrying between its ends a stud 15, which operates in the camgroove 16 of a face cam 17 keyed to a rotary shaft 18 which may be the main cam shaft of the machine, or any other suitably arranged power driven rotary member.

20 is a bracket adjustably mounted upon the bar 10 and formed with two depending arms 21, 22 formed at their lower ends with bearings through which the'rock shaft 12 extends, and in which said shaft is journaled.

Formed upon the bracket arm 21 is a horizontal projection 23 channeled to receive the end of a track bar 25, which is secured in the channel face of inember 23 by means of bolts or screws 24.

30 is a carriage formed on oneface with guide lugs 31 which embrace the track -bar 25 above and below and have secured to them the retaining straps 32 for confining the carriage upon the track bar for reciprocating movement thereon. The opposite face of the carriage 30 is formed with a vertically channeled guide lug 36, in which is reciprocably mounted a suction tube 10 carrying at its lower end a suction gripper 41. A spiral spring 4.2 surrounds the suction tube 40 and is confined with the desired tension between the guide lug 36 and the adjustable collar 43 mounted upon the lower end of the tube 40. The spring 42 tends to throw the suction gripper downwardly into engagement with the top of a pile of sheets. The guide lug 36 is formed with a vertical guide slot 37 in which operates the guide block 44 secured to the face of suction tube 40 for the purpose of holding the tube 40 against rotary displacement in the channel of guide lug 36 upon the carriage.

The upper end of the suction tube 40 has attached to it a flexible hose 45 leading from any suitable air exhausting device and controlled by a valve mechanism in a manner well understood in the art. The suction tube 40 is threaded as indicated at dO to receive the manually adjustable nut or collar 47 which is engaged upon its under surface by a lever 50 pivoted at 51 to a bracket arm 52 of. the carriage 30. This lever 50 is formed with a bifurcated free end 53 with rounded upper surfaces upon its two fingers, which engage the under surface of the nut or collar 47 referred to. Lever 50 is provided between its ends with a laterally projecting stud 54 upon which is journaled an antifriction roller 55, which operates upon the cam face -60 of a bell crank lever which is pivoted upon a. stud 61 projecting laterally from the carriage 30. This bell crank .lever 65. (constituting the power driven member above referred to) also serves as a link which is pivoted at its forward end 66 to a rock arm 67 keyed upon the rock shaft 12 between the bracket arms 21, 22 above referred to.

In the use of the improved sheet forwarding devices in an automatic feeding machine of the type illustrated in Fig. 1, it will be understood that one or more of said devices may be employed. In the illustration given two of such devices are indicated. The operation will be clear from the comparison of Fi s. 2 and 3 when the device is applied to sue an automatic machine. With such a machine the top sheet of a pile is usually given a preliminary separation by devices such as indicated at 2-2 of Fig. 1, operating in conjunction with suitable air blast devices which blow air beneath the partially separated to-psheet. When operating upon certain classes of stock, such as cardboard, however, it is sometimesunnecessary to employ the preliminaryseparators referred to. In any event, the improved sheet separating devices are presented to the pile as indicated in Fig. 2 to bring the suction grippers 11 in contact with the top sheet at the moment the air is exhausted from the suction tubes 40. As the suction grippers take hold of the sheet, the operating mechanism causes the rock arms 67 to move, first imparting upward rocking movements to the bell crank .levers or links 65, which raise the levers 50 by the action of cam faces 6O60 upon anti-friction rollers 55. The raising of levers 5O abruptly raise the suction tubes 40 in the carriages 30 for lifting the front portion of the top sheet up from the pile. Immediately following this initial movement the action of rock arms 67 and links 65 cause the carriages 30 with the raised suction grippers and sheet to move forwardly into the position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. when the parts reach this forward position, the suction in the tubes 40 is broken and the sheet thereby released in position to be taken by any suitable delivery devices by which it is carried from the pile.

In Figures 9 and 10 of the drawings, I have shown a slightly modified form of the improved sheet feeding device embodying the combined link and elevating lever. In the illustrations of this modified form, those parts which are substantially the same in construction as in the preferred form are identified by the same reference numerals hereinbefore referred to and will not be further described in detail. The carriage 30 of the modified form is simplified and slightly reduced in length to present the pivot stud 61 and cam end of lever (link) 65 closer to the suction tube 40 than in the preferred form. The carriage bracket 52 and lever 50 of the preferred form are omitted.

and a bracket arm is adjustably mounted upon tube 40 in position to cooperate with cam 60, 60 of lever 65 in the raising and lowering of the suction tube. The bracket arm 75 carries an anti-friction roller 76 which operates upon cam 60, 60; and arm 75 is formed with two spaced collars 75, 7 5 which are vertically bored to receive the threaded portion of suction tube 40. The manually adjustable nuts 80 are threaded upon tube 40 above and below the bracket collar 75 for securing bracket 75 in the desired adjusted position upon tube 40. An arm 81 secured to bracket collar 75 projects downwardly therefrom and has sliding engagement with slot 37 to 'preventthe lateral displacement of the bracket 75. In the operation of this modified form of device, the cam of lever 65 acts upon the suction tube 40 through bracket 75, to raise and lower the .to limit myself to the specific form of suction gripper, nor to the exact arrangement of the power driven lever for imparting the upward movement to the sheet moving in-- strument upon the carriage in conjunction with the reciprocating movement of the carriage. The details can be changed without departing from the scope of the invention, which in its broadest aspect comprises a reciprocating" carriage having a sheet moving instrument in combination with an operating member, which performs the functions of coordinately raising and lowering the sheet moving instrument upon the carriage and moving the carriage forward and backward with reference to the pile of sheets.

I claim: 7

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a pile support and a movable carriage, with a sheet moving member movable vertically upon said carriage toward and from the pile, and an operating member adapted to operate said sheet moving vertically and move said carriage.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a pile support and a reciprocating carriage, with a sheet moving instrument vertically movable upon sald carriage toward and from'the pile, and an operating member constructed and arranged to coordinately raise and lower the sheet moving instrument upon the carriage and reciprocate the carnage.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a carriage movable forward and backward, with a sheet moving member movable upon said carriage, and an operating member connected with said carriage to move said carriage forward and backward, said operating member being also adapted to move said sheet moving member vertically upon the carriage.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination of a reciprocating carriage,

with a sheet moving member movable vertically upon, said carriage, and a 'lever adapted to operate said sheet moving member vertically upon the carriage and reciprocate said carriage.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination of a carriage movable forward and backward, with a sheet moving member movable upon said carriage, and a lever pivotally connected with said carriage I adapted to operate said sheet moving member and move said carriage forward and backward, I

power In a device of the character described, I

the combination of a fixed track, a carriage movable forward and backward thereon, a sheet moving instrument movable up and down upon said carriage, and an operating member adapted to move the sheet moving instrument upon the carriage and move the carriage forward and backward upon said track.

7. In a d'eviceof the character described, the combination of a reciprocating carriage, a sheet moving instrument movable up and down upon said carriage, an operating lever pivotally connected with said carriage, and coacting cam and studdevices one of which is carried by said instrument and the other is carried by said lever.

8. In a device of the character described,

the combination of a carriage, with a sheet moving instrument movable up and down upon said carriage, an operating lever pivotally connected with said carriage and formed with a cam, and a device operated by said cam adapted to raise andlower said sheet moving instrument, said lever alsoacting to move said carriage forward and backward.

' 9. In a device of the character described, the combination of a reciprocating carriage, a sheet moving instrument movably mounted upon said carriage, a power driven member, and cooperating members respectively co'n nected with said sheet moving instrument and said power driven member, the latter member of which is also connected with said carriage. 10. In a device of the character described, the combination of a reciprocating carriage, a sheet moving instrument movably mounted upon said carriage, a power driven member, and cooperating members mounted upon said carriage and respectively connected with said sheet moving instrument and said driven member.

11. the combination ofa reciprocating carriage adapted to be mounted above a pile of sheets, a sheet. moving instrument movable upand down 'upon said carriage, a pair of cooperatinglevers pivotally mounted upon said carriage and having coacting cam and stud devices to cause one lever to be rocked by the other, a power driven member engaging one of said levers, and the other of said levers engaging said sheet moving instrument.

12. In a device of the character described, the combination of a reciprocating carriage, a sheet moving instrument movable up and down upon said carriage, a pair of cooperating levers mounted upon said carriage, one of said levers having a cam which engages the other of said levers to cause one lever to be rocked by the other, a power driven member engaging one of said levers,

and the other of said levers engaging said sheet moving instrument.

13. In a device of the character described, the combination of a fixed track, a reciprocating carriage, a sheet moving instrument movable up and down upon said carriage, a pair of cooperating levers pivotally mounted upon said carriage and having coacting cam-and stud devices to cause one lever to be rocked by the other, a power driven member engaging one of said levers, and the other of said levers engaging said sheet moving instrument.

14:. In a device of the character described, the combination of a reciprocating carriage, a sheet moving instrument movable up and down on said carriage, a power driven member, a link pivoted upon said carriage and connected with said power driven member,

and means'actuated bythe movement of "said link upon its pivot for raising and lowering said sheet moving instrument upon the carriage.

15. In a device of the character described, thecombination of a reciprocating carriage, a sheet moving instrument movable up and down on said carriagefa power driven member, a combined link and cam pivoted upon said-carriage and connected with said power driven member, and means actuated by the movement ,of said cam upon its pivot for raising and lowering said sheet moving instrument upon the carriage.

--16. In a device of the character described, the combination of a reciprocating carriage, asheet moving instrument movable up and down on saidcarriage, a power driven memher, a link pivoted upon said carriage and connected with said power driven member, a. lever member pivoted upon said carriage nears-e and engaging said sheet moving instrument and cooperating devices upon said link and lever members to cause said lever member to be rocked by said lever member in cooperation with the reciprocation of the carriage.

17. In a device ofthe character described, the combination of a reciprocating carriage,

a sheet moving instrument movable up and down on said carriage, a power driven member, a link pivoted upon said carriage and connected with said power driven member, a lever member pivoted upon said carriage and engaging said sheet moving instrument, and a cam upon one of said members engaging the other of said members to cause said lever member to be rocked by said link member I 18. In a device of the character described, the combination of a power driven rock shaft carrying a rock arm, a fixed track, a carriage operating upon said track, a sheet movin instrument movable up and down upon said carriage, a link pivoted upon said carriage and connected with said rock arm, a lever pivoted upon said carriage and engaging said sheet moving instrument, and a cam formed upon said link engaging said lever.-

19. In a device of the character described, the combination of a reciprocating carriage with a suction gripper movable up and down on said carriage, a lever pivoted upon said carriage and engaging a part carried by said suction gripper, a bell crank lever pivoted uponsaid carriage and formed with a cam which engages said first named lever, and a power driven rock arm connected with said bell crank lever.

CARL E. CHRISTOPHEL. 

